James O’Brien

In most situations when a team wildly overpays a hockey player, the reaction is usually “They gave him that much?” Yet when it came to the Toronto Maple Leafs handing a four-year, $14 million deal to Jeff Finger, the most common reaction was: “Who?” It was a deal that was indicative of how direction-less the…

There’s a bunch of Detroit Red Wings-related injury/retirement news via Ansar Khan of MLive.com today and last night. Let’s take a look. Kirk Maltby is set to announce his retirement today. The grinder has been a fixture in Detroit for most of his 16-year NHL career and Khan points out that he’s one of only…

After a busy stretch of games to begin the 2010-11 season, it seems like the NHL’s catching its breath a bit. There are only two games on the schedule and for fastidious hockey fans, it’s a nice situation because watching both is a distinct possibility. Let’s take a look at today’s two contests. (Start times…

Vancouver 2, Florida 1 You have to wonder if there was at least a small part of Roberto Luongo that felt bad for opposing goalie Tomas Vokoun. After all, just a few years ago, Luongo was the ace Florida Panthers goalie who saw more rubber than a busy highway game after game and stopped most…

In case you haven’t heard, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was ejected from tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres after driving a prone Jason Pominville into the boards. As we noted earlier, Pominville left the ice on a stretcher and was diagnosed with a concussion, but also showed signs of consciousness and did not need…

Note: We’ll cover the late Florida-Vancouver game tomorrow morning. New York Islanders 6, New York Rangers 4 The Rangers took a 4-3 lead late in the third period but the Islanders came storming back. Their resurgence was a little misleading because one of those goals was an empty-netter, but it was still a pretty impressive…

As a player, Luc Robitaille was a big part of the Los Angeles Kings’ greatest moments, especially in the ’90s. While “Lucky Luc” won’t score another goal for the franchise, the Kings still find him to be a valuable asset. It’s just that now he’s a member of the team’s front office rather than a…

The Buffalo Sabres provided a little bit of good news and bad news in regard to Jason Pominville’s status. The good news: not only did Pominville show signs of consciousness when he was carted off the ice on a stretcher, but he reportedly won’t need to go to the hospital. At least not according to…

Jason Pominville left the ice on a stretcher but was conscious. Niklas Hjalmarsson was ejected from the game and received a five-minute major penalty. Read more about the hit and tell us if you think it’s suspension-worthy.

Judging a team by its first three games is incredibly hasty in an 82-game season, but the Anaheim Ducks are making it pretty difficult to refrain from “fire and brimstone” talk. They haven’t just gone 0-3, they’ve been absolutely decimated. Most people assumed that their defense would be a weakness thanks to the retirement of…

Whether you’re interested for fantasy hockey reasons or just want to know which goalie your team is playing in a given day, we thought it might be helpful to share our best guesses (based on various previews from newspapers and Web sites plus our own instincts) on who might start each day.

Because of a quirky schedule, three of the seven games today already began/happened. If you want to know who’s going to play in the net for the remaining for games, though, we’ve got you covered.

Whether you’re interested for fantasy hockey reasons or just want to know which goalie your team is playing in a given day, we thought it might be helpful to share our best guesses (based on various previews from newspapers and Web sites plus our own instincts) on who might start each day. Just two 8:00…

To the surprise of few, the NHL suspended New Jersey Devils enforcer Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond for one game after he instigated a fight in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. Here’s the league’s statement on the matter. New Jersey Devils forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has been automatically suspended for one game, without pay, for instigating a…

Andreas Lilja might not be getting the kind of $1 million deal he passed on with the Detroit Red Wings during the summer, but it sounds like he might finally land an NHL job. With Andy Sutton on the mend with a broken thumb, the Ducks have a hole to fill on their already shaky…

Hockey experts break down player additions and subtractions, goaltending, overall team talent, coaching and various other attributes. Yet when people make predictions or judge teams, it seems like a club’s schedule rarely gets the attention it deserves. The Carolina Hurricanes must be happy they took the maximum four points out of their European vacation, because…

There are goals that every player grows up dreaming about scoring. Maybe the odd blooper of a goal wasn’t the kind of thing Patrick Kane envisioned as a kid in Buffalo, but it certainly was the right showing and a testimony of his great skill. Another goal people dream up is their first career tally.…

When you lose a game 7-2, there might be some bad news for you the next day. Let’s take a look at three notes on the New Jersey Devils, thanks to our MSNBC cousins at Rotoworld.com. Anton Volchenkov received big bucks from the Devils in part because of his seeming lack of fear when it…

Boston Bruins 3, Phoenix Coyotes 0 After losing an ugly game to the Coyotes yesterday, the Bruins came back strong and will leave Prague 1-1 thanks to a great effort today. Tim Thomas earned a shutout (making 29 out of 29 saves), Tyler Seguin scored his first career goal* thanks to a great pass by…

Dallas Stars power forward in the making Jamie Benn took a savage hit from New York Islanders defenseman James Wiesnewski last night, a check that forced Benn to leave last night’s win. While coach Marc Crawford seems optimistic that Benn will be OK, he did tell Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News that they…

Even if it’s slightly exaggerated, it seems like the Nashville Predators are forced to find a new starter every year since their No. 1 always gets hurt. First, it was Tomas Vokoun making way for Chris Mason. Mason then had to fight off Dan Ellis, who was scuttled aside for their current big-money guy, Pekka…

The NHL can throw some crazy start times at you, but because today’s Coyotes-Bruins game is in Prague, the game will air on Versus NHL Network at 10:00 AM ET. Just a gentle reminder for you early-rising hockey fans that this one will start early. The Boston Bruins will probably go into today’s game with…

Los Angeles Kings 2, Vancouver Canucks 1 (SO) You could say that the Canucks “left a mark” on the Kings last summer when they knocked them out of the playoffs, but that was in a figurative sense. As you can see from Anze Kopitar’s gnarled mouth (image via my buddy from The Royal Half, in…

While tonight was an emotional night for the elder Bobby Hull in Chicago, a swirling rush of emotions most have overtaken his son Brett too. The St. Louis Blues honored the Golden Brett during their home opener tonight, unveiling a statue in honor of their great scorer of the ’90s. Here are a few photos…